Matcha Blondies or do I mean Greenies? – We Should Cocoa #71

As some of you may have noticed, since trying matcha in baking a few years ago, with this matcha, rhubarb and chocolate cake, I’ve become rather a fan. Matcha, which is somewhat bitter with umami notes offsets the sweetness of the sugar nicely. I was recently overtaken by a craving for something sweet and I realised I’d never made matcha blondies. Game, set and matcha.

Blondies are basically brownies made with white chocolate in lieu of dark chocolate or cocoa. These matcha blondies are in fact very green and should perhaps be called greenies. What do you think? Look away now if you’re trying to avoid sugar. There is an awful lot of it in this recipe. I like to think some of the sugar rush effect is mitigated by the healthy matcha, wholemeal spelt and real free-range eggs, but I’m probably kidding myself.

Matcha, which is a Japanese powdered green tea, is reckoned to contain all sorts of nutritional benefits. It’s also quite expensive, so I don’t actually bake with it as much as I’d like. Helen over at Fuss Free Flavours was kind enough to send me a tin recently, so I happened to have some to hand.

This is such an easy bake to make, with little fuss or mess. It’s all done in the saucepan so washing up is minimal. Win win. Why not pin the image below for a handy reminder of the recipe.

Whether you call these matcha blondies, brownies or greenies, they are just as delicious as I’d hoped. As you’d expect, they are more sophisticated than your average version of a brownie or blondie. The matcha is an excellent foil for the sweetness of the bake and the bits of white chocolate get nicely caramelised. The texture is slightly squidgy and becomes almost fudge like by the next day. In fact, these are best made the day before you need them.

Matcha Blondies

2016-07-25 09:56:10

Yields 12

Quick and easy to make, these matcha blondies are more sophisticated than your average brownie or blondie. They're also totally scrumptious.

Place the butter and 150g of the chocolate into a large saucepan and melt over a very gently heat.

Remove from the heat and beat in the sugar and salt.

Beat in the eggs, one by one, then sieve in the dry ingredients and stir.

Roughly chop the remaining chocolate and stir into the mix.

Pour into a 20cm (8") sq silicon mould or lined tin and bake in the centre of the oven at 180℃ for about 30 minutes or until well risen, but with a slight wobble in the middle..

Allow to cool, then cut into 12 squares or 9 bars depending on how big you like your brownies.

Notes

The length of cooking time really depends on how squidgy you like your brownies. If they are too soft for your liking, they can always be returned to the oven for a bit longer.

By Choclette

Tin and Thyme http://tinandthyme.uk/

These are my submission to this month’s We Should Cocoa, which is Anything Goes. You still have until midnight on 28th to enter any recipes you’ve posted this month that include chocolate in some way, shape or form.

I’m also sending them to Love Cake with Ness at JibberJabberUK. The theme is Garden Party. I reckon these green matcha blondies with their camouflage fatigues would blend right in to a garden’s verdant growth. You could play hunt the cake! Note to self: draw a map first.

I’ve heard so many great things about match and yet I’ve never tried it. Given that you’ve said that it helps to off-set the sweetness in your fab blondies (but I love the name greenies for them) I really should give it a whirl.
Angela x

Greenies!! Brilliant – that should so be a thing!!! A new trend for sure?!? I love the idea of the bitter/umami notes offsetting the sweetness of cake. Must try that as I usually find cake too sweet these days (downside of eating less sugar…everything sweet just tastes too sweet now!) Thanks for sharing, will be watching out for #greenies trending any day now 🙂 Eb x

I know exactly what you mean Eb. I’ve always tended to use less sugar than the standard and find bought cakes horrendously sweet. Brownies (or did I mean greenies?) are one of the few things I still chuck a lot of sugar at, as they just wouldn’t be brownies otherwise. Off to check if #greenies is trending yet 😉

Hello, I’m Choclette. I’m a vegetarian recipe developer and writer from Cornwall. I have a sweet tooth and a passion for baking and chocolate. Welcome to my award winning blog. Here you will find nourishing home cooked food with a twist as well as foodie tales from my home county and beyond.